GENEVA, FEBRUARY 8, 2018. PIR PRESS — On January 24-26, 2018, the sixty-ninth winter session of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters took place in Geneva. Since 2015, Russia has been represented in the Advisory Board by Professor of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), the PIR Center Founder & Special Advisor, Head of the Center for Global Trendsand International Organizations of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Dr. Vladimir A. Orlov.

On January 24-26, 2018, the sixty-ninth winter session of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters took place in Geneva.

This year the Board welcomed new members and now comprises of diplomats, public figures and researchers from China, Croatia, Egypt, France, India, Japan, Mongolia, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, United Kingdom, United States, and the Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Affairs (UNIDIR). Since 2015, Russia has been represented in the Advisory Board by Professor of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), the PIR Center Founder & Special Advisor, Head of the Center for Global Trendsand International Organizations of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Dr. Vladimir A. Orlov.

One of the key issues of the session was strategic priorities for the Secretary-General on disarmament and non-proliferation which were presented at the session by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Ms. IzumiNakamitsu. The Board discussed the current issues of “disarmament architecture” including the possibilities to revitalize the work of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, as well as other multilateral fora conducive to dialogue in disarmament area. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Michael Møller also participated in the discussion.

The Board began its consideration ofcurrent developments in science and technology and their potential impact on international security and disarmament. In this context a number of reports was presented at the session on the following topics: nanotechnologies and electromagnetic weapons, hypersonic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, weaponization of emerging technologies specifically in the field of chemistry and biology.

The summer session of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters will take place on June 26-29, 2018 in New York.

For questions regarding to the participation of Vladimir Orlov in the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, please contact us by phone +7 (495) 987 19 15 or e-mail orlov at pircenter.org.